


Smells Good to Me

by al_holland



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, F/M, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Ninken | Ninja Dogs, Young Hatake Kakashi, same age au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29939505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/al_holland/pseuds/al_holland
Summary: He wasn’t sure what possessed him to say what he said next, but before he knew it his mouth was open and words were spilling out.“Do you know anything about washing dogs?”-Kakashi has an embarrassing problem, and Sakura is willing to help.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 25
Kudos: 123





	Smells Good to Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hatakeskr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hatakeskr/gifts).



> thank you for all your support, ele!! and thank you for the prompt, I hope you enjoy it <3
> 
> just a lil kidkashi and bb saku, they're about 12/13 here.

He hadn’t listened to Obito’s insistence that he smelled like dog on principle—the principle being that Obito was annoying and Kakashi refused to acknowledge most things he said. But when Rin had delicately scrunched her nose at him, and Minato-sensei had pulled him aside to subtly ask him if he was having trouble _keeping clean_ , he had been so embarrassed, he’d left training early.

He thought dogs were supposed to keep themselves clean—especially ninja dogs—but apparently their methods were falling short of human standards. Kakashi felt his neck get warm as he thought about the village thinking he smelled like a dog.

How had he not noticed? What was he supposed to even wash a dog with?

His first instinct was to ask the Inuzuka clan, but they hadn’t seemed to think he smelled anything but normal. That was not a vote of confidence, so he moved on to Plan B; the civilian shops. Civilians kept dogs that weren’t ninken; surely they would have some answers.

He could smell one shop from a mile away; it smelled pleasant enough so he followed his nose to its doors, only to find himself stood outside the Yamanaka flower shop. Somehow, he figured this was not the place to go. He was about to leave when he caught a glimpse of startling pink hair, paired with a couple of equally startling green eyes, and a lankly arm raised high in the air, waving enthusiastically.

Kakashi frowned and raised a hand to wave back.

“Ino-chan!” she called out and Kakashi dropped his hand to his side, his neck going suspiciously warm again. “Oh—Kakashi-kun! I didn’t see you,” she said, bounding to him happily, stopping right in front of him with a wide grin and hair that smelled as nice as the flower shop behind him. Better, really. The flowers made his nose itch, but Sakura’s hair didn’t seem to be having the same effect.

“Hi, Sakura-chan! Are you—what’s that smell?” Ino said, her happy smile twisting in disgust. Kakashi moved to leave but Sakura stepped in front of him to stop him.

“Are you looking for something, Kakashi-kun?” Sakura asked, regarding him with a puzzled frown.

“Buying flowers for someone?” Ino asked, winking and giggling in delight. His ears felt hot too, now.

“No, I hate flowers,” he said, sidestepping Sakura and heading on his way.

“Who hates flowers?” he heard Ino grumble behind him. Just when he thought he was freed of them, he felt Sakura step in line with him, following his stride easily. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to say what he said next, but before he knew it his mouth was open and words were spilling out.

“Do you know anything about washing dogs?” he blurted out, his ears burning. Her cheeks went as pink as her hair and she giggled.

* * *

The ninken, it turned out, were filthy. Kakashi felt embarrassed that he hadn’t known they had to be _washed_ with _soap and shampoo_. To his relief, Sakura didn’t say anything about his blunder. She had started when he said he had eight mostly-large dogs that needed to be cleaned, but other than finagling a deal for the biggest bottle of ‘Floral Green’ shampoo Kakashi had ever seen from the old man at her regular shop, she had actually said very little about it.

He had thanked her for her help and tried to leave her for the third time that day, but she had insisted she help him bathe the pack.

“Eight dogs is a lot for one boy, you know,” she said, that wide grin back on her face. “Even for a jonin,” she teased. He wondered if his ears were getting sunburnt. He couldn’t figure out why else they would feel so hot.

The ninken seemed to really like Sakura, in any case. Probably because she smelled so good, and was really nice about scratching behind their ears whenever they asked. She even gave Bull a belly rub, which took _a lot_ of work. She didn’t complain once, not even when he rolled over and trapped her under his huge body.

“Sorry, boss,” Bull grumbled when Kakashi demanded he roll off of Sakura, who had just laughed hysterically while she wiggled ineffectively beneath him. When Bull finally removed himself from her, she was covered in suds.

“Don’t be mad, Kakashi-kun,” she said through her giggles. “I’m having fun!” The ninken had nothing but deafening agreement to offer, nuzzling the two of them, covering their legs in suds and knocking them around until they were holding onto each other for balance.

Eventually, he was able to wrangle them in to be rinsed off. He was in charge of hosing down their bodies while Sakura took care of their heads, carefully navigating their ears and faces. Satisfied that they were thoroughly cleaned, Sakura and Kakashi bid the ninken goodbye. Kakashi couldn’t help but feel a little pleased at the way his pack begged to see Sakura again.

She had agreed before he even had a chance to think about it. He found himself pretty pleased at that, too. The sun was setting but his ears were still hot.

“So…thanks,” Kakashi said awkwardly, scratching at the back of his head just to have something to do with his hands.

“You’re welcome, Kakashi-kun,” she said with a warm smile. He wondered if her pink cheeks felt as hot as his ears did. “Would you—”

“Do you—” they said together. Kakashi waited for her to go first.

“Would you like to join my family for dinner tonight?” she asked, speaking quickly, her cheeks going from pink to bright red. Kakashi felt himself panicking.

“No,” he said abruptly, watching as her grin when from easy to tight, and her whole face go red.

“Oh,” she said with an awkward laugh, “that’s okay. Have a good night, Kakashi-kun,” she stood before him, hands crossed in front of her and bright red face pulled taut with a forced grin. He felt his stomach doing flip flops and his ears and neck burn for reasons he didn’t understand.

“I—I mean, I should offer you dinner. As thanks,” he said quickly, watching as her grin dropped into a wide-eyed expression. “For helping me,” he continued, “with the ninken,” he finished, finally. After another moment of silence, in which Kakashi was horrified to feel the warmth in his ears and neck spread to his face, Sakura’s face broke out into a warm smile.

“Okay…I’ll just go clean up, and then I’ll see you later? I smell like a wet dog,” she said with bright pink cheeks and a little giggle. As she was leaving, she hesitated, turning back to him for a moment. He opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, but she sprung forward and pressed a kiss to his masked cheek before he could say anything. With a squeaky “goodbye” and a haphazard wave over her shoulder, she fled.

He still thought she smelled quite lovely.

**Author's Note:**

> babies. i love my sad, traumatized ninja babies. here is a morsel of happiness for them
> 
> tumblr: bl1ndbraavosi


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